Fallout Buddies
by XToxicX
Summary: A story about some of my internet friends; not to be taken extremely seriously. A bunch of teenagers, each with different upbringings and previous lives, try to survive the Capital Wasteland, and end up meeting many of its 'celebrities', both good and bad.
1. Escape! - 1

It had been a regular day in the vault, just dull work shifts among hairdressers, marriage counsellors, clinical test subjects, mechanics, loyalty inspectors (however that worked) and other occupations of that nature. The inhabitants were certainly not expecting an uproar, even if their dear precious overseer was losing his edge and grip on his position. Not his darling daughter, not his most trusted officer... not even the doctor's kid.

It was now 3:00AM. A boy of sixteen years of age groaned as he sat up, blinking groggily and glancing around the room. The sounds radiating from speakers were almost unbearably loud, blaring an irritable noise that would not cease in its actions. Red filled the boy's vision as he staggered to his feet, rubbing his eyes and stretching momentarily, before staring blankly through the rectangular window to see an officer running past with a police baton.

" _ **This is the**_ **Overseer** _ **. All residents of Vault 101 are hereby confined to their quarters..."**_

"…What's going on?" he muttered, looking a tad confused. He furrowed his brow slightly, then opened a drawer beside his retro bed, pulling out a jean jumpsuit with the numbers '101' stitched on the back. After a few moments, he paused with the suit in his hands, hearing the rest of the announcement.

" _ **The Radroach infestation is under control."**_

"…Radroach infestation?" the boy queried under his breath, looking a bit shocked. "We've only seen a few odd ones… but an _infestation?_ What happened?"

" _ **Do NOT interfere with vault security personnel. Any resident found outside his or her quarters WILL be dealt with. Severely."**_

"…I better stay inside then," the teenager commented, then glanced, again, outside the window. He watched it for a moment, then in a split second, saw a girl running across his vision with a panicked expression on her face. "…H-hey!" he yelped, pulling on his jumpsuit.

The mechanical door opened with a push of a button. Looking worried for the female, he poked his head out of the door, blue eyes peering out onto the corridor. At the end of it, the girl stood, and she glanced at him, bearing black, pony-tailed hair and anxious brown eyes.

"Amata! Didn't you hea—?!"

"Stay in your quarters, Flash," the girl insisted sternly, then shot off.

This was Amata Almodovar, the Overseer's daughter. He hadn't seen her frequently, but heard of her and saw her briefly. He did not know her fantastically well, for they weren't even in the same year. She was 19 years old, and had obviously passed her G.O.A.T (Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test); he still had to find out his results on Monday…

Although… It was known that Amata was certainly was passionate about the vault, though it was questionable whether it could be more passionate than her father. She was nice, a bit stern sometimes, but she knew what needed to be done. Flash did not question her orders, but frowned out of her safety, still inwardly hoping she was an exception in the being 'dealt with' part… she was related to the boss of this big metal labyrinth after all.

What was she doing down here though…? He was certain her quarters were on the top floor, along with the Overseer's…

" **HEY! You! Get back in your room!"**

Flash jumped, turning his head in surprise as a police baton was shoved square in his face. Officer Kendall's strict eyes were on him, and they were almost warning him…

The boy was about to back up into the room, until…

"OW!"

He stopped short instantly; the officer had been hit over the head by a random baseball bat. There was another being behind him, scowling slightly.

"You should leave, kid…"

Officer Kendall, stopping his almost unmanly yelp of pain, glared at the other resident, his eyes piercing their soul. Shooting off instantly, they booked it, and the enforcement of law was now running after another vault dweller.

"Oh, are you in for a heap of trouble now!" the armoured cop yelled. "No more games!"

Flash blinked. What was going on?

"No-nooooooo!"

"Time to steal your vault armour and helmet, impersonate you, and kill everybody except the nice people."

"NO! You can't clear all the prickish enemies for the other characters!"

"Watch me."

He stared after the scene for a second, then cringed as the poor guard was beaten to death with baseball bat around the corner. He was lucky to not see the brunt of it, but there was an awful lot of red stuff on the floor, and it was definitely not ketchup. Surrounded by a trio of roaches, too... not pleasant.

Something hit him in the face this time. It was a piece of paper.

He pulled it off his face, then looked at it, brushing away the dust.

 _Yo, Flashy boi! I am your future self, and here to tell chu, if you don't get that keister movin' and groovin', you're dead and stuff! AND IT'S A CRAPPY FUNERAL. So get out of dis vault, bro!_

Flash looked at the letter dumbfoundedly, then rubbed his chin.

"Speech pattern seems very familiar somehow…"

Written at the bottom:

 _DIS BE A DIFFERENT PLACE. YOU BEEN IN DIS DIFFERENT PLACE YO WHOLE LIFE. IT AIN'T VERY_ _ **FAMILIAR**_ _AT ALL. OR FROM A PAST LIFE OR ANYTHING. GOT IT?!_

"…Fine," Flash muttered, then stopped for a second. "But the vault's been sealed… since forever…"

 _LIES. I STALK ITS WALLS._

"So you're dead?…"

 _Very much alive, actually. Nomming on Dandy Boy Apples. Num!_

"Right… … Wait… Why am I talking to a piece of paper?"

 _Oh, the narration made you think this was Harry Potter paper. But you still believed it anyway even though APOCOLY—oh, wait, you don't know how bad teh world is yet… Bye!_

The boy stared at the piece of paper, looking subtly annoyed.

' _I give up.'_

He shook his head, then frowned. "Guess I have to go, though… but should I really listen to a piece of paper?"

 _Yes, yes, you should._

"I thought you left…?"

 _For popcorn! Now move it, boy!_

Stuffing the paper into his pocket and rolling his eyes, Flash looked to his drawer, where a baseball bat sat, leaning against it. He grabbed it, then slapped his opposite palm with it.

"…Okay…"

He inhaled and exhaled.

"Time to move it."


	2. Escape! - 2

The youngster shot out of the door in an instant, skidding around a corner before coming to a complete stop in front of the body of Officer Kendall. He pitied the officer… he was only doing his job…

…buuuuuuut, he was kinda a jerk too. It looked like he was going to hit him even if he did go back in his room.

Still, a human being died right in front of him… almost… and that was scarring enough…

"I hope I don't have to kill anyone…" he muttered, then frowned. "Especially the people I know, that I get on with…"

He was silent for a minute, then looked down.

"….probably will have to…" he sighed sadly.

He looked down at the bodies of the officer and the Radroaches, then carefully stepped around them. Unfortunately, he ended up standing in strewn Radroach organs and the lovely liquid all over the floor.

"Yuck… at least it'll be over soon…"

… _he does realize there was another side to this corridor and he could've gone that way, right?_

Flash halted a little way away from the bodies, then pulled out the piece of scrap paper, looking down at it. He promptly scowled, then looked to see there was another side to the corridor.

"…Wish I knew," he growled, then looked down at his shoes; they were mushed up with innards… not nice. And he probably didn't have time for a dry clean. He turned to walk away, towards the end of the corridor, but was stopped.

 _WAIT! YOU HAVE TO LOOT THE CORPSE!_

"…What?" Flash blinked, looking down at the paper.

 _SKILLS, BOY. SKILLS! LOOT THE CORPSE AND YOU'LL GET A 10MM GUN! A GUN, MAN! AT 100 SKILLS, YOU'LL OWN EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE! AND FINALLY, CONQUER THE WORLD AND DEFEAT THE *beep* and *beep! Spoilers*._

Flash scowled. "Why can't you just tell me instead of censoring the paper?"

 _Because, suspense! That's half the genre there, pal! NOW LOOT TEH CORPSE!_

"…I'll stick with my baseball bat thanks," Flash grumbled.

 _WAIT! NO! DON'T WALK AWAY! YOU MUST LOOT THE-!_

Flash ripped up the piece of paper and chucked it on the floor.

 _I hate you! I thought we were buddies! :(_

Another piece of paper hit Flash in the face. He let it sit there for a moment with an unamused expression on his face, then begrudgingly looked at the paper with a sour expression.

 _Luckily, I have more paper! ):D …wu-oh, incoming!_

"What do you-?"

"HELP! My mom's trapped up there with the Radroaches!"

Another boy, in a leather jacket with a snake etched on the back, had ran up to Flash with a terrified expression on his face. Butch Deloria, the vault bully. He'd been a pain in the butt to a lot of people… especially the doctor's kid.

"What the…?" Flash stuffed the paper into his pocket yet again, then frowned. "That's horrible!"

"Yeah! That's why you gotta' help me, man! My mom ain't gonna' last much longer!"

"[Speech %44] …why can't you go beat 'em up? They're just radroaches…" Flash muttered, staring at him with a straight expression. "Not so different from beating up other people…"

Butch looked stressed.

"[Failed] No, man! They're, like, huge! They'll kill me! And my mom! Insects are so damn scary, especially those jerks! Please! You GOTTA' help me!"

Flash sighed, then stared at the baseball bat in his hand. He reluctantly held it out.

"Here. You can take my bat. Go beat the heck out of them."

"Aw, jeez, man, thanks!" Butch grinned, then grabbed the bat. "You're a lifesaver!"

He suddenly ran down the corridor, and Flash followed in pursuit, just to check it all went well.

"Butchie!"

"Mom!"

"…"

"…"

"You're okay?"

Flash blinked. The Radroaches were already dead… had someone been in here already?

"Y-yeah, Bu-Butchie…"

The teenager shrugged, then hugged his mother.

"Thank God…" he muttered, then chucked away the bat behind him. "Well, don't need that now that this is over…"

 _Whoa, dat peep got major hacking skills if they evaded teh Butch AND saved his Mom! Not a peep!_

"I didn't evade him…" Flash grumbled, looking down at the paper.

 _Yeah, cos you're scripted to be DOOOOOOMMMEED!_

"I am not!"

 _Are too! VATS! Target: Flash! Target: Head! Target: %99! A-A-A-A! Annnnd, X!_

Flash promptly punched himself four times in the face, then howled in pain, slow-motion style. He glared at the paper.

"How the… Hell did you… do that?!" he cringed, rubbing his forehead.

 _Huh. You must be suckish in unarmed._

"Suckish in unarmed? How about I rip you up again…"

 _How about I pull more paper out of nowhere! Cos owls! …wait, they're not alive here; crap._

Flash shook his head and stared at the bat, then at Butch. He sighed irritably, then walked around to pick up the bat. What was the point of lending a hand if someone had already done it?

 _Don't feel too bad, though! You get his jacket!_

"Wha—?"

"Hey, man! You saved my mom's life! Thanks so much! You're a lifesaver! Here, I like you so much—"

 _*wiggles eyebrows*_

"Shut it…" Flash grumbled.

 _BUT MAH YAOI SHIPS!_

"…weird," Butch blinked, then shoved a jacket in Flash's arms. "Here's my official Tunnel Snake's jacket!"

"Er… I kinda didn't do much, though…" Flash muttered.

"Well take it anyway! I'm too happy to care, man!"

"Thanks, I guess…"

 _The SHIP IS SAILING!_

' _This girl is basing her ships on absolutely nothing.'_

 _WELL, YEAH, I GOTTA' SHIP YOU WITH SOMEONE UNTIL YOU RUN INTO AL—not sure if she'll be here, actually… WAIT, WHADDAYA TALKIN' ABOUT, I'M A… GENDERLESS! 030_

Flash rolled his eyes, then turned to walk up the stairs.

 _And so, concludes Flutch. Next time, on Fallout Buddies—WAYYYYYY more rad (_ _ **rad**_ _, get it?) than Snow Buddies!—Enter the Gomez!_

"…who are you talking to? It's just me reading this thing."

 _THEM._


	3. Escape! - 3

"…That's a kids drawing," Flash deadpanned, staring at an eerie picture with a cat on it, a girl, and another girl. There was a nice smiley sunshine in the background, and the two girls were picking random daisies.

 _Epic foreshadowing, huh?_

"…"

 _Awww, Flashy! C'mon, talk to meh!_

"…"

 _Fine. *le pout* I'ma' just sit here bored._

"…Good."

The brown-haired teenager stuffed the paper into his pocket, this time zipping it.

"Need a clear head, and that isn't helping…" he muttered.

 _Rude!_

Flash didn't see the paper, therefore ignored it. Trudging up the stairs, he readied his baseball bat, then blinked when he got to the top. He stopped, and looked down at his wrist; it was a mechanical device, called a Pip-Boy. It stored all sorts of data, like what he was carrying, wearing, his skills and abilities, and even perks.

"…I just realized that jacket Butch gave me vanished into thin air," he grumbled.

 _Fallout logic, my dear Flasheh! Jeez, you not lived here or anything?_

Shaking his head, he walked past the diner, inwardly looking digusted at the body of Grandma Taylor on the floor. How did it all come to this…? Maybe he was right to move after all…

Flash took a cautious step forward, then sighed in relief. No one around.

Another step…

A corner…

Another…

Ano—

"WHATTHEHECKFYAHH-?!"

"Good evening, young master! Please do mind the Radroaches; they're a bit… fiery."

Several Radroaches had been set alight, burning to buggy ashes right in front of him.

Flash breathed in, staring with wide eyes, then looked at a robot. It was a Mister Handy one. Quite round with an array of tools around his being, a flamethrower being one of them. It was Andy. He worked on maintenance with—

"…Flash?"

Stanley Armstrong.

A man, missing a bit of his hair, stared at the young boy, blinking.

"Jeez, first the Doc's kid, those two kids, now you… what're you doing?"

"Nothing suspicious."

"Kid, you're meant to be downstairs, in your quarters. Safe."

"I knew that. Just… needed a breather."

"When security's so tight you can't breathe at all?" Stanley asked sceptically. "Look, I don't want you to get into trouble, but I don't want to get done either. If you are going, like the rest of them are, I won't say anything… but I can't guarantee you're gonna' get out of here safely. Can't imagine why you'd want to, to be honest… we don't know anything about the outside."

"There's a first for everything…" Flash muttered. "Blame the talking paper…"

"Paper, young master?" the robot asked, sounding inquisitive.

"Yeah, it talks…" Flash muttered.

"…"

"…"

Stanley and Andy both stared at him.

"… All right, kid."

"Might I suggest, young master, that you get a move on?" the robot asked.

"What…?"

"Officer Gomez?"

"…Another one?"

A police officer with brown hair was staring at Flash with a worried expression on his face; clearly not hostile.

 _Gomez be a sweetie…_

"A-another one?" he asked, looking at Stanley. "He's lucky we found him…"

"Yeah…" he sighed. "Stupid phase…"

"Phase?" Flash asked, looking clueless.

"We all wanted to get out of the vault once… but we grew out of it…" Stanley muttered. "I don't even know why you want to go out there, kid. It's horrible from what I heard…"

Gomez looked down, sighing.

"It's sad how many kids this is happening to… first the pair up there die, and now another's going to follow suit…"

"All because of the Doc leaving…" Stanley muttered. "I mean, don't get me wrong… he took good care of us…"

"He wasn't from here though…" Gomez said quietly.

"…What? The doctor wasn't from the vault?" Flash asked, looking stupefied. "But I thought no one left the vault. No one ever enters, and no one ever leaves…"

He looked thoughtful.

Could… could someone had opened the vault…? And that's why there were so many radroaches…?

"…We've said too much." Gomez looked at Flash with a soft expression. "Please. Whatever you're doing, just do it. We won't stop you; my job is to do that, and that is one thing I just don't like doing… Beating to death; it's barbaric… No, there's no need for that at all… All this chaos… it probably isn't healthy to stay… Just go, please."

Flash frowned.

"Thanks…" he muttered quietly, then walked towards the staircase.

 _What about them, though?_

Officer Gomez looked at Stanley, frowning.

"It's horrible we're letting this happen…" he muttered, "But the Overseer…"

"I know…" Stanley muttered, just as solemn. "But we can't do anything. We're under him…"

Officer Gomez looked elsewhere sorrowfully.

"I hope no one else dies tonight… this is awful…"

Flash came to a stop at the top of the stairs, looking down at the two workers and robot with an expression of sombre. "…Jeez…" he muttered, then looked to the door. "Things are getting really bad around here…"

 _No crap, dude._

…Paper was suddenly hugging his face.

Flash bulged a vein.

"Will you quit doing that?"

 _NO. Not until you learn the magic of friendship!_

"Magic of friendship?" Flash scoffed. "More like the magic of annoyance…"

 _Hey! Jerk! Luckily we ain't got time to be resentful… but when we do… keheheheh…_

 _Anyways, let's get going and kill people!_

"What?" Flash blinked.

 _Yeah! If you're lucky, the guards might respawn! And that means even more gore! Heehee, ain't that gonna' be fun?!_

"NO!" Flash responded sternly, glowering at the piece of paper. "I'm killing the least amount of people possible!"

 _Welp, that gonna' be hard when you get outside… dat place is gonna' mould you… somehow… make a man out of you…_

"…Is that meant to be a reference to something?" Flash blinked.

 _WHHAAATTT, YOU PEOPLE DIDN'T HAVE DISNEY MOVIES IN THE VAULT?! CHU POOR PEEPS! THAT'S CHILDHOOD!_

"I did have a childhood, just not a weird one like yours," Flash grumbled.

 _Offensive!_

"That's the point," Flash replied in deadpan. "I mean… we kinda did have baseball…"

 _No, it was all about Catch the Mutant! You WISHED you had soccer! And a team to go with it!_

"The latter is also true," Flash muttered ashamedly, then looked at the door. He sighed, quietly, then pressed the button. It opened, and off he went, higher into the vault. Just two more floors to go…


	4. Escape! - 4

The boy cautiously entered the atrium, bat at the ready.

 _Oh!_

"…What?"

 _I completely forgot! Bobblehead!_

"Bobblehead?" Flash responded, blinking.

 _It raises your medicine skill by 10! This one does, anyway… Ah, oh well. Chu isn't coming back here anyway, doctors can scam chu, and hobos probably stole it._

"This is a vault… there aren't any hobos…" the boy deadpanned. "But there are garbage burners…"

 _I know some peep who's likely to be a garbage burner!_

Flash glared.

 _Whhhhaaaat? People haven't gotten their results yet, and it's CERTAINLY not chu I'ma' talking about! Now get a move on and stop talking to an inanimate object!_

"Outta' the way!" another teenager, seemingly injured, suddenly pushed past the male, wielding a 10mm pistol, though it was clear he wasn't authorised to use it.

 _See? HE loots corpses! Why can't you?!_

Flash rolled his eyes, growling slightly, then walked forward, until he poked his head out of the entrance to the atrium. It was a big room, in comparison to the other rooms, anyway, bridging to other areas including a staircase.

Stepping inside, he stared down a long corridor, blinking. "Maybe the exit's over there…" he muttered, then walked down.

 _Well, YEAH, guy, it says 'Main Entrance' right above it._

"I knew that."

He stiffened immediately as two corpses sat right at the bottom; police officers, O'Brien and Richards... Who the heck did all this crap?

 _C'mon, Flash! You gotta' improvise! Get the weapons and armour now, and I SWEAR, you won't be screwed over later!_

"You got screwed over then?" Flash blinked, then squinted. "In what way?"

 _Never mind what way! Grab a gun!_

The boy cringed at the order, then carefully walked forward. He tentatively slipped out a hand, and grabbed at the gun. 10mm pistol, 8 rounds; it should help a bit… but he hadn't really used guns that much before…

 _Might seem a bit off using a weapon, guy, but you'll have to cope!_

"I'd honestly do better with a bat…" he muttered.

 _Guess you would; you were good with that thing, even though YOU HAVEN'T ACTUALLY HIT ANYTHING YET! Alright, stock it, keep the bat, just keep moving!_

"…when did I say you could tell me what to do?" Flash sighed.

 _When this mission started. Now, escape!_

"B-but the door—!"

 _Locked! You're not getting through there! And there's guards too…_

Sighing deeply, the vault dweller walked back up the corridor, turning to ascend up a stair case, a sign labelling it the Upper Level. As he passed, he saw several dead radroaches, beaten to death in a similar fashion to that of a bat beating. How very ironic… maybe this so called future self wasn't so far in front…

He came to a halt at the end of the halls, stood on a balcony hovering over the bottom of the atrium. Looking into the gap, he sighed, then glanced around, wondering where to go next. He checked the paper.

 _Wow, gotten dependent already? Dunnot worry, mah boi… I will take GOOOOOOOOOD care of chu! ):D Overseer's office. GO._

"So that's… left," Flash answered for himself, then walked towards the respective side of the corridor. Side-glancing further piles of dead pests, he entered the Systems Room, where yet another limp body sat lifelessly on the floor. Floyd Lewis.

Flash felt horrible… why was all this happening? All these deaths, radroaches, escapees… He didn't know what was going on, but he felt like he'd find out…

Swallowing, he made his way past the morbid sight, stopping at the entrance to yet another corridor; this one was as long as the last, and would lead to the Overseer's office… for whatever reason he had to go there.

"You there! Where do you think you're going?!" a voice snarled from the security office. Old, grey hair, stern-faced… uh-oh. Amata's dad…

' _And there's the Overseer…'_ Flash thought.

"Umm… to… the… bathroom…?" Flash trailed impishly through the window with a grin.

"Most certainly not! Get here this instant, you traitor! How dare you!?"

"I don't—!"

 _Uh-oh, busted by the senile bossy! LEG IT, BRO!_

Flash yelped and ran off down the corridor, jogging swiftly away from the adult.

"Guards! GUARDS!" the Overseer yelled.

 _Ermmm, dude, your guards are all kinda… dead… awkward much…_

"There's another one; he's getting away!"

AND WITH STYLE!

"Style?" Flash grumbled. "I'm running like a coward; this isn't in style at all…"

 _But many cowards be amazing peeps! Like Meph!_

"…who?"

Rounding another corner, the resident skidded to a stop, seeing several doors around the room.

"Okay, where now?"

 _Office. Should be open. Go, go, go! Gotta' go fast!_

"Got it." He nodded, then discontinued his pace momentarily. _How long am I going to listen to this thing?_

' _Til the day you die! Nah, just kidding; I'ma' tutorial. You won't see me again after this, and since you're not fighting stuff here since some peep did it for ya—TOTAL PLOT CONVINIENCE, HUH?—you're gonna' be screwed out dere, especially since I won't be helping you! :D_

"I really wish you were more considerate…" Flash murmured, sweatdropping.

 _I AM considerate! I'm ensuring you establish freedom before I disappear from your life temporarily! …although it might involve maiming, but ya' know, whatever, right? It's all fun and games!_

"Well—"

"…Flash?"

Amata was stood at the other side of the room, looking at the boy confusedly. Her tone suddenly grew stern and confused.

"I-I thought I told you to stay down there…" she growled slightly, looking anxious. "The vault's been opened! Don't you realize how dangerous that is?!"

 _Don't_ you _realize how AWESOME that is?! :D_

' _She's sane; my future self is not… for some reason.'_

"I'm aware, but…" Flash trailed off, unsure what to say. Why was he doing this?

"But what?" Amata asked, sounding emotionally frustrated. "This place has gone to Hell, my Dad is losing it, and now people are trying to escape, and…!"

Flash frowned. "It's… not healthy to stay here, Amata…"

"But it's safe!" Amata replied sternly, narrowing her eyes. "Better than out there. A-and… maybe… I can change my Dad's mind… I can make everything better…"

"Maybe… but what if that doesn't work?" Flash insisted with a solemn expression on his face. "Everything and everyone is at risk here…"

"Look, I don't need lectures," Amata responded, folding her arms and sighing quietly. "Whatever happens, happens. We'll tough it out, and we'll cope. If you want to go like my friend did, then go. I'm not going to stop you… but I can't say you'll be allowed to come back."

She frowned.

"Make your choice, Flash."

"…" Flash was silent, looking down at his shoes.

 _Say yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes—_

"…I guess I better go…" he muttered quietly.

 _SCORE! DEATH CONFIRMED! :D_

Flash glared down at the paper, then Amata looked at him in slight depression and disapproval. She looked at her father's office.

"There's a secret passage in there… I suggest you hurry up…"


	5. Escape! - 5 - END

"I still wonder if it would've been better if I stayed behind…" a thoughtful Flash murmured as he looked down the set of stairs which led to the secret passage. It was dark, empty, and had certainly been empty for a while.

 _Don't be a wuss. All the adventure's out there._

"Is that all it's for?" Flash grumbled. "Is that why you pestered me to go?"

 _No, I was saving your backside, bro. Dose peeps end up screwing almost everyone over at the end of all this…_

Flash thought for a moment. "How do you know all this?"

 _If you think really, really hard, that's proooooooobably a dumb question. I told ya'._

"And I don't believe you." He carefully walked down the metal stairs under the desk, ducking his head. "You don't sound anything like me, even if I did lose it."

 _Smart. But that's the only answer you're getting._

"Unfair," Flash deadpanned, reaching the base of the stairs. His eyes darted around, scanning the area, before he sighed in relief at the aura of emptiness the room gave off. He didn't feel like running into authorities… this cosy, dark, spooky… ominous… echoing… corridor… seemed pretty empty… So, a victory, he guessed, if he ever got one here.

Rounding another corner, his gaze moved ahead to a mechanical door, similar to the ones down in the reactor level; full of cogs and smaller than the average automatic doors. Nearing it, he settled his hand on the handle, and the door opened, revealing yet another room inside.

 _A room within a room. Curious._

"Not curious at all; there's loads of dang rooms in this vault."

 _Yeah, um, sorry, we're going to have to make your lingo more badass, Cas—ER, FLASHY! I said FLASHY!_

Flash blinked, then shrugged. He was kind of getting use to this…

 _OI! You can't get used to me! I DEMAND YOU NOT GET USED TO ME!_

The boy rolled his eyes with a coy expression.

"Nope."

He stepped inside the room, then looked to see a wall.

"… Dead end."

 _You don't have a phone, guy. You're good._

"… To this very second, I still don't understand what you're talking about."

Flash looked around.

 _Scower the room! WE MUST FIND A WAY THROUGH DIS DOOR!_

Queue a montage of looking behind pipes, in the corners, and even attempting to climb through the floor and/or ceiling.

 _Oh! Look! There's a button right there!_

"…" Flash glared with a deadpan expression. He pressed the button next to the wall, and the wall in front of them opened, revealing the entrance room to the vault.

 _We're homefree!_

"YOU THERE!"

 _…Crap! Cops, we're not homefree! D:_

Officer Wolfe was stood right in front of the vault door, looking very unamused and patting the police baton in his hand.

"What do you think you're doing in that tunnel?!" the man snarled. "We've lost two, so we're not losing another! You're going right to security, traitor!"

"Traitor?!"

 _Well, yeah, you did ditch them, kinda… but then, you weren't useful, so I don't blame them._

"Hey…" Flash growled.

 _What? I looked on your results! Fry cook! Seriously, is that helpful at all, man? Apart from making me endless burgers? …oh wait, I can't eat here._

"Fry cook?"

 _I kinda… looked… at your results… before you…_

"…"

Officer Wolfe looked a bit put off by the kid talking to the piece of paper, and shook his head. He suddenly neared Flash.

A wild Officer Wolfe appeared!

Go! Baseball bat!

What will you do?

Flash fled!

 _Bravo, my boy. There is nothing more beautiful than true cowardice. :'D_

"I just don't want to make a bigger fuss!" Flash growled, then dodged being beaten by the baton, running past the cop and towards the control panel.

 _That thing opens the door! Press a button! Or something! I dunno! I just want a button to get pressed! Just don't kill us! I like dis paper._

"What about my life?" Flash deadpanned.

 _Eh, I don't care about that too much, but then, I need certain peeps alive to continue the story. You ish gonna' LOOOOOOVVVEEE Autumn…_

"Well, it isn't as bad as winter…"

 _Huh. Thought you wouldn't have known about the weather with you being a vault homie and all._

"Well, ow—!"

Flash was promptly hit over the back of his head by a baton, because he was too busy talking to the piece of paper to notice yet another officer behind him.

The boy felt a bit dizzy at that, and clutched his head, groaning slightly before glancing over his shoulder.

"Good one, Park!" Wolfe responded, then moved in for the kill.

 _NURR! Don't kill a main character! DO CRAP, FLASH! I BELIEVE IN YOU! AND STUFF! I'LL GIVE YOU MOTIVATIONAL POSTERS! AND BRAHMIN MEAT! AND FANCY LAD SNACK CAKES! JUST GET OUT OF THIS VAULT! …or you could just kick their asses. That would be epic. They have default personalities so I dunnot care!_

Having suffered a hit to the head, Flash was a bit too busy to look at the damned piece of paper at this point. He pressed tons of buttons. He didn't know what he pressed, he just hoped one of them worked.

But something seemed to work, because there was this horrible, rusty scraping sound. It sounded like a high-pitched screech, and suggested the door had not been oiled in decades. But since the vault had closed for more than one or a hundred, it was hardly surprising. Still hurt his ears, though.

 _Flash! You opened it! Get going!_

"Agh! You!"

Flash dodged out of the way as Wolfe tried to hit him with the baton, making like a hare towards the entrance. He stopped right outside the border of the door, then glanced back at the security guards.

"… I got out of the vault. What's so special about this?"

 _SILENCE! Observe!_

"I'm not going out there, no matter what the Overseer says!"

 _You're literally one step away from their precious vault door, and they can't even get you. They're bigger wusses than you, Flash._

"I am not wuss!" Flash grumbled.

 _Nah, nah, I kid! Seriously though, step back in again._

"What? Why? I'm out!"

 _Come onnnn, it'll be funny!_

"Why do I humor you?" he sighed.

Flash put his foot back inside the vault.

"Got you now!" The guards yelled, running towards Flash.

Flash pulled his foot back out of the vault.

The guards backed up.

"Damn it!"

Flash blinked, then put his foot back in.

"Hold it right there!"

They ran at him again.

Flash understood why he was told to do this, and laughed slightly. He pulled his foot back out.

The guards backed up once again.

"I'm not crazy enough to go out there!"

This continued for thirty minutes.

 _You put your left foot in, your right foot out, in, out, in, out, shake it all about! Hahaha! …Okay, seriously, let's go._

Flash pulled his foot back out, and waved at the seriously-irritated guards as he walked down the cave leading to a wooden door. He could hear the door screeching again as shut, and he cringed at the noise.

 _Oh, yeah, say goodbye to your home because you probably won't see it again!_

"What? WAI—!"

Flash turned around; the massive, heavy, reinforced metal door of Vault 101 had closed.

"Damn it… left my issue of Grognak #1 inside…"

 _Oooo, tough luck. Anyway, now that you're banished from the vault forever because of me, it's time we parted ways!_

"…But you got me into this mess!"

 _I saved your life, bro, admit it._

"More like ruined it…."

 _You would've been eaten by GIANT COCKROACHES! And you would've had Andy for a doctor. Not pretty you know. Buzzsaws and stuff. You got weapons, though, so I'm not leaving you totally defenceless. I made sure you got weapons, decent ones. To fight the little stuff anyway… just stay outta' DC; that place is mutant hell. Way more mutant than Catch the Mutant._

"So, you're ditching me then?" Flash huffed.

 _Yep. I've been annoying you for too long, and I'm actually a pretty nice peep, so I'll leave you be with the Radroaches, Radscorpions, Yao guai, vicious dogs, mole rats, Deathclaws, mutants… you know, all that. You'll be FIIIIIINE._

Flash did not find those names very comforting, nor the after-comment.

They stopped at the door, where light came through the gaps.

 _Here it is. The big bad wasteland. Ready to meet it?_

"Guess I've got no choice at this point… Can't hide here…" Flash murmured.

 _Yeah, well, you'll have to be. This exact place is where I leave you. Goodbye! And also… you didn't need me at all. You could've checked your Pip-Boy and it could've told you exactly what I did, without my awesomeness. BAIIII!_

The piece of paper vanished, and Flash stared blankly at it.

"… _Thanks_."

His eye twitched slightly, and then he looked to the door.

"…Here we go…" he muttered.

The vault dweller then opened the door, greeted by the outside world…


	6. Our Little Secret - 1

Flash could only see very bright yellow as he entered the outside world, the sunlight blinding his seeing inceptors as they had only seen the dim lights of the vault. Everywhere was blurry, light… until it cleared.

Rubbing his eyes, the boy looked around, and his face lit up with shock.

The ground was lifeless, barren, and a horrible shade of brown. Big, pointy sticks, ten times taller than Flash himself, stuck out of the ground, branching off in different areas. Buildings in the distance were ruined and beyond repair. Cars were upside down, empty, and dilapidated. Rocks had corroded horribly. The sky was a putrid grey, no blue in sight from a past mushroom cloud. This world was empty.

This world was dead.

"Wha-wha… what the…" Flash muttered, slightly hyperventilating at the sight. He'd only ever seen the walls of Vault 101, and now… He'd heard many rumours of the outside world, but this…

The war must've been bad…

Swallowing, the boy straightened, then looked down at the device strapped onto his wrist, tapping a few options until his location came up. Just outside the vault… that was right… But where was he supposed to go now? It didn't tell him where to go, so…

Flash sighed, then looked down the hill that led up to the vault. The terrain was rocky and rough; he'd have to be careful not to fall over…

Breathing in, the boy slowly eased a foot forward, squinting as the sky beat down on him. He carefully walked down the hill, making sure not to trip and watch out for any incoming obstacles. He was also inwardly wary of what that cursed piece of paper had told him; there were more than just Radroaches… that was seemingly only a taste of the Capital Wasteland. That's what the lengthy map on his Pip-Boy told him anyway.

Glancing down at his bat as he reached a beaten, dirt road that had barely any tarmac on it, he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck… then heard a ticking sound, and felt an unpleasant feeling. Stiffening, the boy looked down slowly, seeing he was in an ankle-high puddle of dirty water. Yelping ever so slightly, he jumped back, then glanced at a meter on his Pip-Boy.

"…Rads…?" he blinked, looking clueless. What were rads? Was that short for something? Whatever it was, the meter had been ticking when he was stood in the puddle… maybe there was something in the puddle. He doubted it being good, though, so he left it alone. Shaking off his feet, and inwardly giving a noise of disgust at an unidentifiable object stuck to his legs, he looked back and slowly started walking up the road, passing yet another puddle and a charred car.

As he moved, he couldn't help but realize how screwed up the world was… they weren't kidding when they talked about the vault being the safest place on Earth…

"What do I do now?" he grumbled to himself, his gaze low and slightly depressed. "No friends, no home, no source of food… and by the sounds of it, no safety. This sucks…"

" **Oi."**

Stopping abruptly, Flash blinked, then glanced around. Was someone talking to him? …

"…Must be hearing things," he muttered, "I'm not sure if there'd be any survivors…"

"Oiiiiii!"

"…Okay, seriously, what is this? Sparta? It's freaking me out," Flash stated, then looked around frantically.

No being seemed to be there, apart from…

He stared blankly.

There was a black tabby cat sat on a rock, staring at him with big eyes.

"…Okay…" he muttered, looking a bit uneasy. The cat didn't match the surroundings… and it looked well-fed…

"Oi, what you doin', looking at me, you fucking scrub?"

Flash's eyes widened—it was a freaking talking thing on four legs! And fluffy! Much amaze!—but it didn't take him long to take offence. "What'd you just call me?"

"A fucking scrub," the cat repeated with a deadpan expression, licking its right paw. "Quit looking at meh! Just because I'm the most unaffected peepo around here doesn't mean you have to stare!"

"Well, sorry, I've never come across a freaking talking… whatever you are, before," Flash responded, narrowing his eyes, folding his arms and pouting.

"I'ma' cat, scrub. You seriously never seen a cat?"

"No, I've been in a metal prison all my life."

"Wow. That's sad," the cat responded, then paused. "Explains why you're such an idiot, though. Poor guy. Unlike meh. I had fabulous treatment!" It looked elsewhere with a fiendish grin. "…and much powah than regular peeps…" It looked back at Flash smugly. "And thus, I inherited a thing called inteelllliiiggggenccceee!"

Flash glared. He knew already he didn't like this… cat.

"I get it; you're an arrogant so-and-so that thinks he's better than everyone else."

"Arrogant? Much offense! I never said such a thing," the cat replied, furrowing his brow. He grinned. "I'm just stating truth, is all. Also, you kinda gawt a Radroach brain on your leg."

"Eugh!" Flash tried to wipe it away. "That's what that thing was?"

"Unintelligent," the cat chimed again.

Flash glared.

"I don't need this," he spat, then turned to walk up the road.

"Heiiiii! Waitttt!" the cat insisted, suddenly looking a bit impish and fearful. "You cannot leave meh! I ish domesticated!"

"So what?" Flash grumbled, though was walking more slowly.

"… My owners ditched me," the cat clarified, then pulled a sad guilt-tripping face at the teenager's back.

"I can see why," Flash responded, not sounding too convinced.

"I'm defenceless!"

"Hide, then."

"I'm dependent!"

"Find another person."

"I'm hungry!"

"Go find a ready-meal."

"They don't have those!"

"… What?"

"You heard!"

"… So?"

"… I'll die!"

"…"

Flash stopped. He was gravely silent at that, then looked back at the cat. It was then that he noticed the puppy-dog (or cat) eyes staring at him with hope.

"I can help you! Probably!" the cat insisted, annoyingly persistent. "I'm small and flexible, and stuff… and I know stuff!"

Flash stared at the creature with a straight expression, then sighed, giving up.

" _Fine_."

 _Great, more mouths to feed…_

He turned around, walking again.

"C'mon."

"Yaayyyy, for not being ditched!" the cat sang happily, then bounced on its heels after the boy. "Oh, by the way, what's your name? And it better have swag, yo."

"Flash," the boy answered. "Do you—?"

"Of course I do, scrub!"

 _I just gave you my name! Use it!_

"What is it then?" Flash asked irritably.

"My name beeehhhhh… Peanut! But my owner's kid called me a fearless overlord or something…"

"Fearless overlord?" Flash blinked. "You don't look like a—!"

"Silence, plebeian!"

Flash made a small growling noise. He was starting to regret this now.

"Just walk faster already," he grumbled, " _Pal."_

"Oh, I will!" Peanut hummed, then trotted further forward, until his face was out of view of Flash. He smirked slightly.

 _Not sure about_ _ **pal**_ _, though, Flashy…_


	7. Our Little Secret - 2

"Help, PAL, HELPPPP!" the cat screamed.

"Yeah, hang on!"

Flash and Peanut were in the middle of that same orange terrain, combatting something big and pink. It looked like a mole rat… but it was way bigger than average size.

"Kill it! Stahp it!" the kitty yelled, running around and trying to dodge the animal.

"I dunno; circle of life, you know," Flash quipped with a smug expression, tapping his baseball bat on the base of his hand.

"SAVE MEH, YOU UNEDUCATED SCRUB!" the cat shrieked again; the mole rattie was so close to nomming on his tail. "SAVE MEH!"

Flash gave a deadpan expression at that.

 _If he's so_ intelligent, _he should know that insulting your only hope isn't going to get you anywhere… but…_

He sighed, then rolled his eyes. "Fine, but quit calling me that!"

"Whatever! Just stahp it!" the cat yelped, jumping onto a rock.

Flash stared at the mole rat, then swallowed slightly. It turned its head, and stared at the boy, its eyes in a deep squint and its bucktooth leering at him. It hissed incoherently, making a horrible scratchy noise. Then instantly, it shot towards him, scampering across the terrain and right into a—

"Hngh!"

—bat. Flash hit the creature in the face, and it howled in pain, drawing back and whimpering pathetically. It soon snarled again though, angered that this human dared do such a thing to it and would not die as easily as the last guy. Flash would have pitied it earlier, but it was still a threat to him in and Peanut…

The mole rat growled lowly, then shot forward again, aiming to dig its blunt teeth into any part of the teen visible. It didn't get far, though.

 **THWACK!**

Hitting it again, the mole rat wobbled, although still stood. It seemed extremely disorientated, though, and there was a bulge of red from its forehead… blood…

Flash looked down at his bat: it was full of the stuff, and he couldn't help but cringe at how horrible it looked… He could almost feel it on his hands…

"Flash!" Peanut yelled, narrowing his eyes and flailing his paws. "Pay attention, you idiot!"

"Hu—ckkkkk…?!" Flash yelped as he felt something dig into his ankle, and he looked down, seeing the creature's jaw locking around his leg. He stiffened, then hesitated no longer. He threw down the bat with force, again and again, and it only took one moment for the rat to completely fall still.

Breathing in and out, the boy knelt down, prying the animal's jaw from around his leg and cringing as he did so. He stared down and gasped, pupils shrinking. His ankle was surrounded by red, smushed liquid, and it was then he realized how much it hurt. He cursed silently under his breath, then looked up at Peanut.

"What?" the cat asked, blinking cluelessly. "It's dead, isn—…oh…"

"Yes, oh," Flash groaned, then slowly pulled himself to his feet. It hurt to stand. "And that 'oh' is probably going to get me killed the next time we run into something."

"Oh, don't worry about meh!" Peanut grinned. "I can just prance away, and I'll be super sa…"

He trailed off impishly at Flash glaring at him.

"I don't know if I can guarantee your protection," the injured being responded bitterly. "And I don't think you have or ARE capable of using weapons by yourself."

"Who needs that?" the cat responded dismissively. "I'm top cat! Nothin' gets meh!"

Flash squinted.

"You might want to quit that boasting session right there. Not in the mood for that crap, and I THINK you're forgetting our earlier conversation. Now, I _almost_ got my ankle ripped off; what do you say?" he asked, looking at Peanut expectantly.

Peanut thought for a moment, then blinked. He then grinned widely, jumping down from his rock. "Oh," he chuckled. "Thanks, _scrub_!"

Flash's eye twitched.

"I told you not to—!"

"C'mon, scrub!" the cat cheered, then bounced off in a certain direction.

"H-hey! I'm not finished!" Flash yelled, limping after him.

He rolled his eyes, clearly agitated by the cat. He had been with it around twenty-five minutes and he already wanted to kill it… or leave it. Whichever worked. He still found it weird the freaking thing talked, for God sake.

"But I am! We got more important things to do, peep!" the feline called back with a grin. "This way!"

"Why that way?! Why are _you_ leading?!" Flash growled.

"Because _I'm_ not crippled!"

"That's not an excuse!"

"Eh, works for me! But hey, if you dunnot want a place to rest your leg…"

Flash blinked blankly. What did that mean?

The kitty stopped at a bridge, and pointed at a few buildings around the corner on it.

"Look, Flash! Civilisation!" he gasped. "And possibly intelligent people!"

Flash would've looked relieved, but Peanut's comment was hardly up-lifting, and he shook his head.

"I swear…"

"Aw, don't be like dat," the cat whined, then pointed his paw at the entrance. "I could've just declared you dead and claimed insurance. If you even have that anyway. Do you?"

Flash glared at him.

The kitty chuckled impishly. "What? Ish curious!"

"Sure…" Flash grumbled, then limped towards the town, sighing quietly under his breath. "…Sure are a handful for someone so small… or a mouthful, anyway…"

Peanut pouted and stared at the boy, huffing. "Mah kitty ears heard that!"

"So?" Flash murmured, looking to meet his gaze with a begrudging expression. "You've been insulting me non-stop since we met."

"That isn't true," Peanut replied innocently, whistling.

"You kinda…"

"Oh! Flash! A guy!"

"Wow, a gu—" Flash stopped his sarcasm, then blinked to see a bald man in a red checkered shirt coming towards him. The clothes looked pretty pre-war, as if it was unaffected by the war. Not too shabby… "…Wow."

"Hello there, fellah! Good to meet you! Name's Smith, Jack Smith! Welcome to Andale, the best little town in Virginia!"


	8. Our Little Secret - 3

Peanut squinted suspiciously at the man.

 _He's a bit… chipper…_

He glanced around the town, then his gaze returned to the man.

Flash smiled in relief, waving a hand at the fellow. "Well, uhh… it's good to meet you, Jack," he responded, nodding his head. He held out his hand, and the other promptly shook it. "Name's Flash."

The older one gave a chirpy, friendly smile, replying with, "Well, Flash, it's good to meet you too! It's nice to see a friendly face every once in a while! Feel free to stay in Andale as long as ya' like! Heck, stop by the house for some dinner some time if you'd like!"

"Might consider it, actually," the boy replied, looking impish. "We haven't really eaten in a while…"

 _Although… he sounds a bit insistent…_

Peanut stared up at Flash with an uncertain expression. He didn't like this. He shook his head, but the movement was unnoticeable. Flash glanced down at Peanut, but doubted he saw the movement. He faced Jack again.

"Well, if that's the case, definitely drop by!" Jack responded chipperly. "Whenever you want! Just make sure you let Linda know so she can make food for four! Because that'd be real awkward, huh?" Jack laughed.

"It would be pretty awkward, yeah," Flash chuckled, then glanced at him impishly. "I might take your offer of dropping by… see, we're new on the parts, and still trying to get our bearings out there."

"Ahhhh, I see!" the man nodded, then folded his arms with an inquisitive expression. "Why stick around out there, though? It's better to find some place to settle down and have a family! Andale's one of the best places to do that!"

"It is?" Flash blinked.

"Yes, sir-ee! Best little town out there! We win town of the year EVERY year!" he responded happily.

Peanut blinked.

 _Town of the year? … he does realize half the settlements went boom ages ago, right?_

He squinted. These peeps were weird… or Jack was, anyway. He didn't even know about the others.

"Oh, cool… they still do those?" Flash asked, sounding a bit surprised.

"Yep! We just won again this year!" Jack replied happily. "We treasure our little town very much! We never get any trouble, and food is a plenty!"

"Whoa…" Flash replied in awe, looking pleasantly surprised.

 _He's too happeh. I don't buy dis._

Peanut turned around, then started trotting to the centre of the town. He blinked, then glanced around, squinting. Mailboxes… probably had names on them. But he doubted they still got mail, and that meant no Manga books to steal… Shame...

Looking thoughtful, he glanced at windows, seeing a few people inside. Then, he saw a house sitting all on its lonesome. It looked empty, but Peanut wondered whether to trust his eyesight over his instincts...

A town out here, miraculously unaffected by the Hell around them? Making out the town was the best place for your big families? Somehow having a steady food supply? How long had they lived here...?

Peanut needed answers...

He glanced back at Flash and Jack, who seemed to be still conversing. Then, he shrugged, making his way towards the lonely house as sneakily as possible.

Flash glanced around the town, then smiled a bit. "Doesn't look as bad as the place outside the vault..."

"Oh, you mean Springvale? What happened there is horrible... I would advise you stay out of that area."

"Springvale?" Flash blinked. "Why?"

"There's a whole building full of raid-" the man paused suddenly, glancing down at Flash's ankle. "My goodness! What happened there, friend?"

"Ah... Pink thing..." Flash mumbled, almost inaudibly as if it were shameful.

"Oh, mole rats?" Jack asked, frowning. "They're nasty little things... Do you need help getting patched up?"

"I would appreciate it, yeah," Flash replied with a meek smile. He already felt at home... but he felt something off about it...

"Come on, then!" Jack smiled, then walked over to Flash to lend assistance. He lead the boy to a two-story, slightly beaten house. "I can introduce you to Linda and my boy, Junior! Just don't get any ideas, eh?" he joked.

"I won't, honestly," Flash replied with a sincere expression.

"There's a good boy!" Jack grinned, chuckling.

Flash seemed a little awkward at being called that... It passed soon enough, though.

"Say, sport, didn't you have a cat with you?" the man asked, looking around.

Flash blinked, then looked around suspiciously. "Yeah, now that you mention it... I wonder where he went..."

"I'm sure he'll turn up soon, son!" Jack replied optimistically. "Now, let's get that nasty bite sorted out!"

He knocked on the door and opened it.

"Jack, honey?"

"Linda, darling! We have a guest!"

"Oh, that's wonderful!" a feminine voice called from the kitchen.

Jack let Flash in, then glanced around, his gaze stopping at a sofa.

"You just sit here whilst I go talk to Linda, see if I can find something for that ankle of yours," Jack told him, then helped him onto the sofa. "I'll be a minute, don't worry!"

Flash nodded, but he didn't relax; he was sat up straight, not in a slouch. He didn't feel particularly comfortable yet.

He scanned the house; it seemed a little worn, more worn than he was used to, but he'd take it over the wasteland anyday. There was an old-fashioned television sitting in the corner of the room, a sofa beside it, and a flight of stairs leading up to the bedrooms (assumedly). A clock was sat just above the stairs, and there was a door under said stairs, leading to the kitchen.

It seemed like a usual family house. A normal, usual family house.

He stopped, though, and noticed a little boy appearing at the top of the staircase, smiling vividly. He came down the stairs, and gave Flash a friendly look.

"Never seen you around before! You're new here, aren't you?"

"Uhh… yeah, I guess," Flash replied, then looked at the floor. "I'm Flash. I'm new to the world in general though."

"You're funny," the boy chuckled.

 _I was serious…_

The child then looked him over. "Wow! This is so cool! I never get a chance to talk to the new people! Dad always takes care of them before I get the chance."

"…'Takes care of them'…?" Flash repeated slowly, looking a bit uneasy at the response.

"Uh-huh," the boy responded, then smiled. "Name's Junior, by the way!"

"Oh, you're the kid Jack was talking about?" Flash asked.

"Yup! That's me!" Junior responded chipperly.

Everyone seemed happy enough despite the fact the world was falling deeper into Hell round them…

"He's my dad!"

"Well, he seems like a real nice guy." Flash smiled meekly, though was still slightly put off by the earlier comment.

"Haha, he sure is!" Junior chuckled, then looked at Flash curiously. "You're from out of town then? You're so lucky! I wish I was like you, instead of being stuck here in boring Andale…"

Flash blinked. "Don't you like it here?"

"Well, I do… but… it's just there aren't a lot of kids around here. And anyone who comes to visit doesn't stay around long. My Dad says it could be worse; that there are starving kids in some other places, but still… I wish there were more kids to play with… it's so boring…"

"Maybe your dad's just trying to look out for you," Flash responded, sounding certain. He wouldn't let a little kid wander out THERE… "I've seen out there; it isn't safe."

"I know, but…"

"Junior! Hey there, son!"

The boy jumped slightly, then turned to smile at his dad walking in the room.

"Oh, hey, dad!"

"Giving our visitor a warm welcome?"

"Yep!"

Jack turned to smile at Flash.

"Just had a word with the missus; she'll be in here in a minute to sort that wound out."

"That's great. Thanks so much!"

"Don't mention it, friend!"

Suddenly, there was a scratching at the door.

"…? Wonder who that is," Jack hummed, then walked over to the door. He creaked it open, then looked down to see a cat. "Oh! Flash! It's your cat; he's back again!"

 _Back again from where?_

Flash turned his head, then smiled.

"Great."

 _Not._

The cat walked in, and jumped up onto the sofa next to Flash.

"Well, sorry to leave you, but I've got to tend to something!" Jack replied, grinning. "Just sit there and relax until Linda finishes what she's doing, okay?"

"Got it," Flash nodded.

"Junior, why don't you go clean your room?" Jack asked, looking at the boy.

"Okay, dad," Junior replied, beaming before heading upstairs. "Nice meeting you, Flash!"

"Nice meeting you too!"

"Nice boy, isn't he?" Jack smiled, then turned around to enter the kitchen. "You rest up."

The cat looked at Flash with a grave, solemn expression as soon as Jack left.

 _"…Don't get comfy."_


	9. Our Little Secret - 4

"…What?" Flash mouthed, looking at the cat with a stern expression.

"… Meet me outside when you're finished," the tabby replied, then jumped down onto the carpet.

He walked towards the door, then stopped. He stared at it, then gave an expression of irritation. He tried jumping up, but he couldn't reach the handle.

"Ermmm. Excuse me. Scrub."

"…What?" Flash made an irritable growling noise.

"Open the door! Fearless Overlord wants out!"

Flash stared at him, then squinted.

"Maybe I shouldn't. What are you going to be doing out there?"

"Nothing!" the cat replied, then narrowed his eyes as he glanced around. "I just don't want to be in here… sixth sense, you know."

Flash's eyes widened slightly; thank God he wasn't the only one who felt that way about the place… but these people were being nice to him. He didn't want to ruin things if he didn't have to… He was just going to get what he needed and leave…

Flash's mouth twitched. This certainly hindered his decision, and he rolled his eyes. "Fine…"

He leaned up across the couch arm, and turned the knob, letting the cat out.

"Thanks, Flashy!" the kitty responded chipperly; the boy cringed, as it almost reminded him of the tone the Smiths were using currently…

"Are you Flash?" a kind, chirpy voice asked, and Flash looked up to see a middle-aged woman wearing a pink, slightly worn pre-war spring dress. She had ginger hair with a hint of brown, and grey eyes. She was smiling down at him.

"Yes, ma'am," the boy responded with a firm nod, smiling and acting like nothing was wrong.

"Lovely to meet you. I'm sure you've already heard from that darling husband of mine, but my name is Linda. Welcome to Andale! Winner of the best town in the USA contest!"

Flash blinked, then looked at her.

"…Best town in the USA? Just how many towns compete in this contest…?" he asked, trying to sound inquisitive.

"Well... I don't right know. But we're the best one, isn't that what matters? I mean, we're the winners. Us. Not Springfield. Not Rockville. Us…" Linda trailed off, then looked on-topic again. "Anyhow, I heard from Jack that you had a nasty run-in with a mole rat. Is that right?"

"Yeah…" Flash nodded, then looked down at his ankle; it was red, even through the jeans of his jumpsuit…

The woman looked at the stain, then cringed slightly, but this almost felt put on. "Dear me… well, luckily, we can sort that."

She pulled out a water bottle, then a rag. She dampened the rag, lifted the bottom of Flash's jumpsuit, and dampened the wound. Flash cringed, then looked down as she dabbed it carefully: the way she did it, made it look like she'd done it many times before…

The rag, despite being a bit old and ragged, seemed a bit clean, but there were a few stains here and there. It seemed to have a hint of red, but Flash didn't query it before hand, and the point would be meaningless if he had asked, since it was now wet with his blood.

"Just a moment…" Linda mumbled, then pulled out another cloth. This one was faded pink in colour (totally suited Flash… he was glad that, with his jumpsuit, no one would see it…), and she wrapped it around Flash's ankle, before tying a knot at the back. "…There."

The cloth around his leg seemed similar to her dress in texture, then he gasped slightly. Did she use her clothes…?

…Although suddenly, now, the red tint before was suddenly more disturbing to him.

Maybe he was overthinking it.

"Now, you might need to rest a little before walking on it, dearie," Linda told him.

"I suppose…" the boy mumbled, though felt uneasy about sitting in a place like this, on its own, for too long. He was meant to meet with Peanut, too, whatever he wanted… After a second, he looked up at her with a smile. "Could I… get a little fresh air, though?" he asked.

"On your own?" she asked, then frowned. "I'm not sure if that would be wise, friend, at least not until your ankle gets better."

"But I haven't seen all of Andale yet... Wanna' see what that air's like…" Flash trailed. "If anything goes wrong, my cat can come get help."

She blinked. "It's a cat…"

"…he will, I know."

 _He better._

She looked at him oddly, then shrugged. "Fine, but don't wander off, Flash. We want to make sure you're okay."

 _I wish I could believe that, but my gut's telling me something else…_

Flash nodded, then carefully got to his feet, holding onto the sofa and shuffling around to the door, wincing. Opening the door, then teenager looked back at the woman to see she was still watching him, arms folded. Looking to the floor, he stepped through the door, and shut it gently behind him.

Outside again.

He looked around for that black tabby cat that would easily stand out in this place…

There he was.

Flash walked over towards a lonely house at the south-eastern part of town, to the said small creature that was sat on a corroded brick wall. Peanut stared at him, then gave a deadpan expression.

"You took your time," he grumbled.

"Yeah, well, I was a bit busy getting my ankle to stop spasming with pain," Flash retorted dryly, then his expression became stern. "What do you want?"

The cat looked over his shoulder, at the house, then back at Flash with a stern expression.

"I talked to a resident here."

"So?"

"He knows what this town's like. _What it's really like._ "

"…?" Flash blinked, then stared with interest. "…So? What did he say?"

Peanut looked down.

" _Folks wander into this place, and they don't wander back out_."


	10. Our Little Secret - 5

"…Are you serious?"

"Not joking. At all."

Flash had a conflicted expression on his face; he frowned, but looked slightly terrified at the prospect at the same time. He shook his head, then looked down silently.

"Don't say you don't believe me, Flash," Peanut replied, sternly. "I'm serious here. Do or die."

"What do you mean?" Flash snapped, staring at the cat.

"We can't stick around here any longer. Not for food, not for anything. We need to leave," the tabby replied, earnestly. "Now."

"…Do you at least have any proof before we do?" the boy asked, frowning. "This place feels OFF, I know… but… I'd like a bit evidence so I don't feel bad about it…"

"We don't have time for this," Peanut growled quietly. People were so much more inclined to orders where he was from, even if he hadn't been the one giving the orders… it irritated him a little.

"Go by yourself then," Flash replied, narrowing his eyes. "We're both starving. We both need shelter. We both have no idea what the heck is going on here."

"You more than me," the tabby hummed, narrowing his eyes as well. "…fine. Stupid human kid. That house."

He pointed a paw at the house they were in front of, where one could distantly see a dark form walking around inside. The person was pacing, and halting to stare outside the window every few seconds, and that gave Flash a subtle shiver down his spine.

"What about it?"

"That's the resident that told me this stuff. If you want to know what's going on here, and why I'm so insistent, then go in there, Flash."

"…Is he dangerous?"

"Would I be sending you in there if he was?"

Flash stared at Peanut hard.

"… Don't answer that. Now get your butt in there, scrub!"

The tabby then began nudging the boy towards the door, though wasn't having much progress; he was a cat, after all. They didn't have super human strength or anything.

Flash gave a deadpan expression to the cat, just standing there for a few minutes and making sure Peanut's progress was severely hindered in him getting to the door.

"Is he dangerous?" Flash repeated, furrowing his brow.

"N-yaa-o! Now get in there!" the cat hissed quietly.

Sighing, Flash rolled his eyes, this time letting the domesticated animal push him towards the door. Once there, Flash began knocking on the door… only to realize the cat was still pushing him into the door.

"Stop it!" he yelped, his cry muffled by the wood.

"Nuh!" the cat replied. "Just enter! People don't give a damn about manners anymore!"

Flash seemed annoyed at his face being pressed against the oak, and growled irritably. He slowly set his hand on the door knob, and hesitantly opened it, ignoring manners momentarily. He hope Peanut was telling the truth…

"What… who are you?!"

Suddenly, a man was stood in front of Flash with a surprised expression on his face.

"Wha—how?! How did you get in here?!"

"Front door was op—"

"What are you doing in this town? Get out! Get out while you can!"

"Huh? Uhhh…" Flash bit his lip, seeming a bit taken aback by the man's attitude; it only added to his suspicions… "…Slow down… just a little… I don't understand… what's up?"

"What's up? _What's up?_ You don't see anything wrong with a quiet little town full of friendly people in the middle of a blasted wasteland?!"

"Well…" Flash trailed off with uncertainty. The man would have to clarify… he was sure something was wrong, but he didn't know why… "…What's wrong with them being friendly, then…?"

"Nothin' wrong with being friendly, but these folks aren't JUST friendly… no… they're more than that… they…—they're KILLERS!"

"…?!" Flash stiffened suddenly, and looked at Peanut with wide eyes.

The cat nodded gravely, shaking his head.

"…You just watch your back around here!" the man warned, not sounding like he was joking, "And get out while you can! Don't stay for anything! Don't risk it!"

Flash blinked, then staggered back a little with a shocked expression.

"Get out of here!" the man yelled frantically. "RUN! They're crazy! They're crazy, I TELL YOU! Get out of town while you STILL CAN!"

…And Flash needed no further encouragement. He immediately shot out of the door, still slightly limping—groaning through his teeth as the pain shot up his leg—and once he did, he leaned against it, on the porch. He breathed in and out slowly, and looked around. His stomach churned horribly, and there was this pit of dread and despair in his system that wouldn't leave…

Peanut was licking his paw beside him, and looked up at the boy with a stern expression.

"See what I mean now?" the cat asked, not sounding overly happy about it either.

"He seemed… a little… shaken…" Flash muttered quietly. "Maybe… he just needed a nap—"

"Don't make up little excuses when your life is on the line, brat," Peanut hissed. "I could've just left without you."

Flash bulged a vein.

"But you need me, don't you? You wouldn't last two minutes out here—that mole rat was proof enough of that! Quit being high and mighty…"

Peanut's expression grew ominous.

"Where I come from, we have better influence over society itself than any civilian…" he muttered inaudibly.

"What was that?"

"Nothing important to you. Now come on! We gotta' move!"

"But th-there's no proof!" Flash frowned.

Peanut sighed irritably. "If we snoop around, then we're gonna' get caught! And they WILL have reason to kill us there and then! Better to just make an apology and leave…"

"…What if it's all coincidence?" Flash asked. "I mean, I don't like this either, but… there's a possibility we could get food… and supplies…"

Peanut wrinkled his nose in slight irritation, anxious. He pulled something from behind him. It was a key.

"…? Did you… steal that…?" Flash asked, a tad horrified.

"Shushhh!" Peanut put his free paw to his mouth. "…yes. I was climbing a tree near the window… and… I found it on Jack Smith's bedside table, just lying around…"

"And you just took it?"

"It was shineh!" Peanut huffed.

"Oy vey…" Flash groaned, shaking his head.

"Silence, plebeian!"

Peanut stared at him seriously.

"If you want proof, we can go look for it. And whatever's locked behind the door this key opens? That'll be proof enough."


	11. Our Little Secret - 6

Flash carefully opened the door to the Smiths' house, poking his head in and glancing around. He noted the kitchen was empty, and walked inside, the key firmly in his grasp.

The kitchen was a tad messy, but overall clean for it being post-apocalyptic. There were many pots, and a lunch box on the side… All very normal…

He was completely against this… but he needed to know… He needed to know whether he was actually safe or not…

He'd check, and if it wasn't anything massively shocking… he'd lock the door, put the key back, and he could safely sleep at night knowing there was nothing wrong… no matter how adamant Peanut was about it…

Clutching the key tightly, he made his way to a door, which was sat opposite the dining table. It stood there, glaring down at him, and a tad unnerved, he slipped the key into the lock, and began turning just as Peanut quietly waited outside, in the kitchen.

He didn't need evidence to prove this town was off…

"I'll keep watch…"

Opening the door, the boy pushed it open as slowly as he could, trying to avoid making as much noise as possible…

"Alright… Here I go…" Flash muttered under his breath, slightly unsteady at the prospect of breaking and entering.

"Try not to die," Peanut responded in a seemingly uncaring fashion. Flash knew he was just as serious as himself, though…

"I'll try," Flash responded with a roll of his eyes.

It opened, and from this small motion there was an indescribable sound, emitting from the way the door dragged cringeworthily across the floor. Flash peered down carefully, seeing a set of stone stairs leading to the base of the building. Taking a deep breath, he nodded in some sort of affirmation, and tread down the stairs quietly, like a mouse.

 **Thud, thud, thud, thud…**

His footsteps echoed as he made his way down the stairs, radiating a cold and empty feeling to the room. When he finally reached his destination and looked up… Flash stiffened.

A single light bulb illuminated the room, emitting a pale yellow light.

His gaze settled on the first thing he saw. A dead, mutilated body.

"…What the Hell…?!" he hissed under his breath, all colour draining from his face. Once that was out of the way, once he managed to regain his senses, he looked to the rest of the room, frozen in place.

There was a broken cooler to his left, containing legs and arms of all proportions. Besides that, there were two cages, housing rotting skeletons. Another skeleton was hanging from the ceiling, like the meat of a cow being hung for storage. And the cages were only multiplying, scattered across the room. The bodies that littered the table had been 'scavenged', their intestines out for all to see, their blood seeping across the floor and the counters. Arms, legs, and even what was left of the heads were horrific to look at…

Flash's features were set in place with disgusted horror as he saw the head of one of these bodies, placid and still, fearful and in shock at a sudden betrayal.

These people… they'd been butchered… He had a sneaky suspicion why, but he wasn't sure how to confirm it yet… Whatever the case, the idea itself was ghastly… These people… these people that helped him… they couldn't have… could they?

His stare drifted to one of the three refrigerators, and he cringed, unsure of how to approach the matter… unsure of how to open it… He cautiously stepped towards it, reaching for the handle.

And within that moment, Flash saw what might have been one's worst nightmare.

The refrigerator was scarred with murky liquid, and on its shelves, laid slabs of flesh, all ideal for preparation… The stench was nauseating; Flash had to hold his nose and cover his mouth to avoid vomiting at the sight and smell.

His theory became absolute.

Suddenly Junior's 'before he takes care of them' made sense.

This was storage. They were storing meat. Not just any meat. Human meat. And these people… these… hurt, hurt people in the room… they were just common out-of-towners… visitors… people that were most likely friendly…

And they'd killed them. For food.

Flash found this both sickening and terrifying. How could humanity turn on itself like that?

Poor Flash hadn't yet seen the world. He'd come across mutated creatures; he'd escaped officers, people who had the job of restraining escapees… but he hadn't yet seen the Capital Wasteland's way of life. How scavengers killed for spare parts, how raiders torture innocents as if it were a simple house task, how people ATE people…

Well. He was starting to find out now. And with all his might, he hated it. He wouldn't forgive these people. Part of him wondered whether he should bite his tongue, however… If he should leave town and just shove this hate to the back of his mind.

But then this would just keep happening.

People, nice people even, would keep walking in. They'd keep getting murdered for food stock. He couldn't let that happen.

It was dangerous for him to outright confront them about their secret, but at the same time, it was the right thing to do. Human beings should never be driven to ethics like this. It was frightening; it was revolting; it was repulsive.

Turning around, Flash made for the stairs, narrowing his eyes and certainly not feeling forgiving. Whatever happened, happened. He just couldn't let these people get away with this. His hard footsteps hit the stone stairs, and he reached the door. He opened it, and stepped into the kitchen.

He paused. He didn't hear anything. He didn't hear footsteps, and he certainly didn't hear talking. All he could hear was the faint tune of the radio. It felt the house was empty…

And Peanut wasn't there anymore.

That all made him very unnerved.

He stepped towards the door, and then opened it. Out he stepped into the world, and there he saw an array of weapons: knives, guns, you name it… all pointing at him.

There was crowd around him; it was focused, and definitely not out for a nice chat. Flash felt overwhelmed by this sudden amount of people; the whole town turning on him…

His gaze shot to one of the people in the crowd, the woman who'd bandaged him up… she was holding a cat… and that angered Flash…

"…" it stared at Flash with a solemn expression.

Jack was at the lead of the crowd, and he pointed his gun at Flash, ready to shoot.

"Hey there, stranger. I've got something I want to talk to you about."


End file.
